Johnston McCulley
Zorro creator Johnston McCulley reviews his original work with Disney's Zorro star, Guy Williams.
Author Johnston McCulley created the masked fox...
...never anticipating that his hero would become an enduring legend. A former newspaperman, McCulley became a prolific author of stories ranging from crime thrillers to westerns. He introduced Zorro in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly on Aug. 9, 1919. The Curse of Capistrano concluded after the fifth weekly installment with McCulley unmasking his hero. The entire pueblo of Los Angeles knew that Don Diego was Zorro. The fox was so popular, however, the public demanded more Zorro stories after seeing Douglas Fairbanks silent screen adaptation of McCulley's creation. The Further Adventures of Zorro was published in 1922 and McCulley continued writing Zorro stories until his death in 1958.
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The legend of Zorro came to life in Johnston McCulley's original story, The Curse of Capistrano, Aug. 9, 1919 in All-Story Weekly and ran in five weekly installments. The artist's rendition of the character was different than our image today, though some of the main characteristics are present - his mask, sword and cape.
After the success of Douglas Fairbanks 1920 film based on McCulley's The Curse of Capistrano, Grosset and Dunlap released the five part story as a novel in 1924 using the film title, The Mark of Zorro.
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| Title | Magazine | Volume | Issue | Date |
| The Curse of Capistrano (I) | ALL-STORY WEEKLY | Vol.100 | No. 2 | Aug. 9, 1919 |
| The Curse of Capistrano (II) | ALL-STORY WEEKLY | Vol. 100 | No. 3 | Aug. 16, 1919 |
| The Curse of Capistrano (III) | ALL-STORY WEEKLY | Vol. 100 | No. 4 | Aug. 23, 1919 |
| The Curse of Capistrano (IV) | ALL-STORY WEEKLY | Vol. 101 | No. 1 | Aug. 30, 1919 |
| The Curse of Capistrano (V) | ALL-STORY WEEKLY | Vol. 101 | No. 2 | Sep. 6, 1919 |
| The Further Adventures of Zorro (I) | ARGOSY | Vol. 142 | No. 4 | May 6, 1922 |
| The Further Adventures of Zorro (II) | ARGOSY | Vol. 142 | No. 5 | May 13, 1922 |
| The Further Adventures of Zorro (III) | ARGOSY | Vol. 142 | No. 6 | May 20, 1922 |
| The Further Adventures of Zorro (IV) | ARGOSY | Vol.143 | No. 1 | May 27, 1922 |
| The Further Adventures of Zorro (V) | ARGOSY | Vol. 143 | No. 2 | June 3, 1922 |
| The Further Adventures of Zorro (VI) | ARGOSY | Vol. 143 | No. 3 | June 10, 1922 |
| Zorro Rides Again (I) | ARGOSY | Vol. 224 | No. 3 | Oct. 3, 1931 |
| Zorro Rides Again (II) | ARGOSY | Vol. 224 | No. 4 | Oct. 10, 1931 |
| Zorro Rides Again (III) | ARGOSY | Vol. 224 | No. 5 | Oct. 17, 1931 |
| Zorro Rides Again (IV) | ARGOSY | Vol. 224 | No. 6 | Oct. 24, 1931 |
| Zorro Saves A Friend | ARGOSY | Vol. 234 | No. 1 | Nov. 12,1932 |
| Zorro Hunts A Jackal | ARGOSY | Vol. 237 | No. 6 | Apr. 22, 1933 |
| Zorro Deals With Treason | ARGOSY | Vol. 249 | No. 2 | Aug. 18, 1934 |
| Zorro Hunts By Night | CAVALIER CLASSICS | Vol. I | No. 2 | Sep. 1940 |
| The Sign of Zorro (I) | ARGOSY | Vol. 305 | No. 2 | Jan. 25, 1941 |
| The Sign of Zorro (II) | ARGOSY | Vol. 305 | No. 3 | Feb. 1, 1941 |
| The Sign of Zorro (III) | ARGOSY | Vol. 305 | No. 4 | Feb. 8, 1941 |
| The Sign of Zorro (IV) | ARGOSY | Vol. 305 | No. 5 | Feb. 15, 1941 |
| The Sign of Zorro (V) | ARGOSY | Vol. 305 | No. 6 | Feb. 22, 1941 |
| Zorro Draws A Blade | WEST | Vol. 56 | No. 2 | July 1944 |
| Zorro Upsets A Plot | WEST | Vol. 56 | No. 3 | Sep. 1944 |
| Zorro Strikes Again | WEST | Vol. 57 | No. 1 | Nov. 1944 |
| Zorro Saves A Herd | WEST | Vol. 57 | No. 2 | Jan. 1945 |
| Zorro Rides The Gauntlet | WEST | Vol. 57 | No. 3 | Mar. 1945 |
| Zorro Fights A Duel | WEST | Vol. 58 | No. 1 | May 1945 |
| Zorro Opens A Cage | WEST | Vol. 58 | No. 2 | July 1945 |
| Zorro Prevents A War | WEST | Vol. 58 | No. 3 | Sep. 1945 |
| Zorro Fights A Friend | WEST | Vol. 59 | No. 1 | Oct. 1945 |
| Zorro's Hour Of Peril | WEST | Vol. 59 | No. 2 | Nov. 1945 |
| Zorro Slays A Ghost | WEST | Vol. 59 | No. 3 | Dec. 1945 |
| Zorro Frees Some Slaves | WEST | Vol. 60 | No. 1 | Jan. 1946 |
| Zorro's Double Danger | WEST | Vol. 60 | No. 2 | Feb. 1946 |
| Zorro's Masquerade | WEST | Vol. 60 | No. 3 | Mar. 1946 |
| Zorro Stops A Panic | WEST | Vol. 61 | No. 1 | Apr. 1946 |
| Zorro's Twin Perils | WEST | Vol. 61 | No. 2 | May 1946 |
| Zorro Plucks A Pigeon | WEST | Vol. 61 | No. 3 | June 1946 |
| Zorro Rides At Dawn | WEST | Vol. 62 | No. 1 | July 1946 |
| Zorro Takes The Bait | WEST | Vol. 62 | No. 2 | Aug. 1946 |
| Zorro Raids A Caravan | WEST | Vol. 62 | No. 3 | Oct. 1946 |
| Zorro's Moment Of Fear | WEST | Vol. 63 | No. 3 | Jan. 1947 |
| Zorro Saves His Honor | WEST | Vol. 64 | No. 1 | Feb. 1947 |
| Zorro And The Pirate | WEST | Vol. 64 | No. 2 | Mar. 1947 |
| Zorro Beats the Drum | WEST | Vol. 64 | No. 3 | Apr. 1947 |
| Zorro's Strange Duel | WEST | Vol. 65 | No. 1 | May 1947 |
| A Task for Zorro | WEST | Vol. 65 | No. 2 | June 1947 |
| Zorro's Masked Menace | WEST | Vol. 65 | No. 3 | July 1947 |
| Zorro Aids An Invalid | WEST | Vol. 66 | No. 1 | Aug. 1947 |
| Zorro Saves An American | WEST | Vol. 66 | No. 2 | Sep. 1947 |
| Zorro Meets A Rogue | WEST | Vol. 66 | No. 3 | Oct. 1947 |
| Zorro Races With Death | WEST | Vol. 67 | No. 1 | Nov. 1947 |
| Zorro Fights For Peace | WEST | Vol. 67 | No. 2 | Dec. 1947 |
| Zorro Starts The New Year | WEST | Vol. 67 | No. 3 | Jan. 1948 |
| Zorro Serenades A Siren | WEST | Vol. 68 | No. 1 | Feb. 1948 |
| Zorro Meets A Wizard | WEST | Vol. 68 | No. 2 | Mar. 1948 |
| Zorro Fights With Fire | WEST | Vol. 68 | No. 3 | Apr. 1948 |
| Gold For A Tyrant | WEST | Vol. 69 | No. 1 | May 1948 |
| The Hide Hunter | WEST | Vol. 69 | No. 2 | July 1948 |
| Zorro Shears Some Wolves | WEST | Vol. 69 | No. 3 | Sep. 1948 |
| The Face Behind The Mask | WEST | Vol. 70 | No. 1 | Nov. 1948 |
| Hangnoose Reward | WEST | Vol. 70 | No. 3 | Mar. 1949 |
| Zorro's Hostile Friends | WEST | Vol. 71 | No. 1 | May 1949 |
| Zorro's Hot Tortillas | WEST | Vol. 71 | No. 2 | July 1949 |
| An Ambush For Zorro | WEST | Vol. 71 | No. 3 | Sep. 1949 |
| Zorro Gives Evidence | WEST | Vol. 72 | No. 1 | Nov. 1949 |
| Rancho Marauders | WEST | Vol. 72 | No. 2 | Jan. 1950 |
| Zorro's Stolen Steed | WEST | Vol. 79 | No. 3 | Mar. 1950 |
| Zorro Curbs A Riot | WEST | Vol. 73 | No. 3 | Sep. 1950 |
| The Three Strange Peons | WEST | Vol. 74 | No. 1 | Nov. 1950 |
| Zorro Nabs A Cutthroat | WEST | Vol. 74 | No. 2 | Jan. 1951 |
| Zorro Gathers Taxes | WEST | Vol. 74 | No. 3 | Mar. 1951 |
| Zorro's Fight For Life | WEST | Vol. 74 | No. 2 | July 1951 |
| The Mask of Zorro | SHORT STORIES
FOR MEN | Vol. 221 | No. 2 | Apr. 1959 |
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